Looking for a little assistance. I brewed my very first batch of beer ever. I followed the directions to the T, but my blonde ale turned out darker and more “caramely” than I would expect it to. It had good flavor, and I am satisfied with my first batch ever. But, wondering why it didn’t turn out lighter in color. I did a full boil which as 6 gallons of water, I believe. It seemed as though I steeped the grains for a very long time while waiting for the water to come to a full boil. Could this have led to the dark color and caramel taste?
If it’s an extract kit, they tent to be darker. You can add 1/2 to 2/3 of your LME with 15 min left in the boil to lighten the color. (It gives it less time to scorch the sugars). FWIW, My first batch was the AM wheat and it was dark as well.
Thanks for the reply. I just got a little freaked out when i saw the picture of the Blonde Ale on the website I purchased it from and it was a lot lighter. I guess what really matters is that I enjoyed the process and enjoyed the taste. Ordering my second kit tonight. I am thinking about trying an American Honey Pale Ale.
Cheers!
+1 To the good Dr. All of my extract kits tend to be darker than depicted, although very tasty. Yours looks good! :cheers:
You wrote: “I steeped the grains for a very long time while waiting for the water to come to a full boil.”
Could you elaborate on this? Did you bring whatever grains you had to a full boil, or did you remove the grains after mashing, and THEN boil the wort?
Extract + steeping grains for a while is going to give you a much darker beer than you probably wanted.
Extract will always be darker than all grain, but as mentioned above you can add some of your light extract with about 15 mins left in the boil to lighten it a little. Also, I would look into how you steeped the grains. From what I remember with the extract/steeping grain recipes, there’s a certain temperature and time limit to steep them.
I could be wrong, but maybe you can steep them at that temp for a shorter time frame as well. When I did my first batch, I remember steeping them for I think 15 or 20 mins at a certain temperature, then removing them and bringing the liquid to a boil, then adding my extracts and hops. It was the Caribou Slobber, and was definitely darker than the picture online, but at the time I didn’t really understand why.
[quote=“Templar”]Extract + steeping grains for a while is going to give you a much darker beer than you probably wanted.
Extract will always be darker than all grain, but as mentioned above you can add some of your light extract with about 15 mins left in the boil to lighten it a little. Also, I would look into how you steeped the grains. From what I remember with the extract/steeping grain recipes, there’s a certain temperature and time limit to steep them.
I could be wrong, but maybe you can steep them at that temp for a shorter time frame as well. When I did my first batch, I remember steeping them for I think 15 or 20 mins at a certain temperature, then removing them and bringing the liquid to a boil, then adding my extracts and hops. It was the Caribou Slobber, and was definitely darker than the picture online, but at the time I didn’t really understand why.[/quote]
Reading in Zymurgy mag last night, they had a recipe for a Belgian Wit, and recommended just boiling a single gallon of water for the wort, and then pouring into a fermenter and topping off to a full 5 gallons. So far, all of my recipes have said to start with 2.5 gallons and top off to 5. Would that provide a distinctive difference in color without affecting the taste?
It probably won’t change the flavor much, but in general, the more concentrated the boil, the darker the beer will turn out. If you only boil 1 gallon and dilute it down to 5 gallons, I would expect this beer to turn out relatively dark, unless you only boil for 5 minutes or something short like that. Time is also a factor. If you boil a concentrated gallon for a full hour, the beer will probably turn out brown! If you were to boil the full 5 gallons, even for a full hour, it would be the lightest in color. For a witbier… you should boil the full 5 gallons, or as much volume as possible, as this is a light color style.
When I switched to full volume extract boils, my beer noticeably improved and the color was lighter (although still darker than all grain).
thanks. my pot is a 20 qt, so I may be able to get 4 gallons to a boil in it, but no chance on 5. May need to try my turkey fryer.
thanks. my pot is a 20 qt, so I may be able to get 4 gallons to a boil in it, but no chance on 5. May need to try my turkey fryer.[/quote]
that’s what I try to do, get it as close to full volume as possible, and add extract later in the boil to get a lighter color in the paler style beers.
BREW ON!!!
Looks exactly like my first extract kit. Lefse Wasn’t-Quite Blond.
There’s only one fix. Keep practicing.
